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Thank You GM it has taken 20 years to get where I am at but I am finally getting to the point where all I really do is bid and set up jobs, my boys are starting to run the field and yes the weather in NE Ohio is finally coming around and drying out so we can get back to work after a looonnnggg hard winter.
I see your in Alabama, all my Grandfathers kin was from the Tuscaloosa and Fosters area.

No problem at all.
I started my working career at 10 years old as a go-for, working for my Great uncle, and Grandpa. They owned a small excavation company. We dug a lot of basements, and septic systems. My uncle could run a four stick Ford backhoe like playing a piano. He was amaising to watch and learn from. He taught me the fine art of spreading gravel by setting the chains on the end gate.

You must be proud that after 20 years of busting tail, you can step back a bit and let your crews handle the work. You still have plenty to do, but you don't have to be on sight to keep from things getting out of control.

The weather has been unfriendly for most of the country. I usually have have my CJ2 out by now, but it has been covered up in the shed. We had the F3 tornado come through almost a month ago, so we have been cutting trees and cleaning up after work. No work has been done to the wagon at all this winter, so that is on the agenda.

I'm not originally from these parts. I took a job with a defence contractor, that has a plant here. It's a bit of a culture shock to say the least. It's fun to watch them try and drive when we get an inch of snow...

I know what thats all about, starting at 10 years old myself my Grandfather and Father owned a Excavating Co. when I was growing up and i was the go-for,the truck washers, the oil changer, the track cleaner you might just say I was their bish.
It is getting a little eaiser these day's, I had 38 union guys at one time until the bottom dropped out of everything in 08 and I downsized to just 5 guys now and it is managable with a much better profit margin.
And yes I am proud except when my 2 boy's that "know WAY more than Dad does" have millenial flash back's and the ole man goes nut's, but for the most part they are doing pretty good.
The biggest reason I got into this project of mine is my Dad, my Uncle John and a old time freind of the family Jerry all had jeeps and Jerry with the M38 sold it about 35 years to a guy local.
He just finished a 5 year 32 chevy coupe street rod project and asked me wonder what Pat ever did with the jeep he sold him.
So thats when I was on a mission to find out, I found it and bought it off the next owner for $150.00 and here I am today, waiting on a motor!!!
The pictures attached are me and my Dad on the right with the CJ5, my Uncle in the middle with another CJ5 and Jerry on the left with his M38 and I am guessing it was 40-45 years ago.
Damn I'm getting old

That's great that you were able to purchase back the Jeep. I've been wanting to buy my great uncles, ( from my mother's side) '63 International Scout 80. It is sitting under a collapsed barn, where it had been sitting since parked. I don't know how bad it is now, but the last time I saw it, the hood was smashed, because the hood was raised. The barn collapsed some time in the early nineties, so know telling what's left. My cousins are notorious for "going to do something with it someday", so they won't sell. I used to spend my summers when I was small, with my Aunt and Uncle. He had a large farm, and we would cruise around and check fences. There was a couple of creek crossings, and when the water was high, water would come through the rust holes in the floor. The mice would scatter from within the seats. Good times.

Yeah those were some good times back then.
We all belonged to a Jeep club here in Akron called Tiretown 4 Wheelers and we all raced the drags which was a 300’ track, then a hill climb for the fastest time then we’d run the obstacle course which we maneuver through the woods,usually through a creek and mud for the fastest time also. It was a blast when I was 14-16 years old.
Then I built a single seat jeep when i was around 20-21 with a Buick V6 that Kenne Bell in Michigan built for me, he took 350 V8 heads and cut one cylinder out of the center and welded them back together so we could have bigger exhaust and intake valves, we put a 471 blower on it then I put a Lenco 2 speed tranny in it with a airshift.
That car was a Beast, I think when Bell built the motor he put it on a dyno before we went to pick it up and it was close to 875 HP, out of a 231 V6.
I ran it for 4-5 years before it had a "Scrap Iron Fit" one year in Cincinnati at a race called Gravelrama, it was the biggest race of the year and people came from all of the country. I was in the final round running a Big Block V8 in the unlimited class and I knew I had to run the Ole Girl Hard to beat the guy, so that's what I did and when I hit the button to shift is when my racing days came to a complete stop.
I will never forget the noise it made when it granaded at 12,850 (according to the Tach ) it blew the crank, rods,pistons and all out the bottom, it blew the heads and blower out the top what a mess it was......
That was back when I had more money than sense, but it was fun.
Now a days I just tinker with a old Jeep and try and Spoil my 3 Granddaughters as much as possible

There seems to be a lot of that going on around here. But, I believe it beats the alternative. Much of the Jeep restoration is done by us more mature guys. We don't keep our heads down in phones, get gamer's thumbs other such afflictions. We tend to use technology as a tool - not an end in itself.

We get greasy, drop dirt in our eyes even behind safety glasses and skin up knuckles and talk to things to get them loose.

My folks were members of our local Jeep club, and they did a lot of the same events. They ran old gravel pits and strip mines. I don't know what the name of the club was. Truth be known, I was concieved at a Playboy club resort, while they were on a club run to Wisconsin. Then after I refused to be born, two weeks after the due date, dad would take Mom for Jeep rides. He had a CJ5 Renegade. When I was 1 dad would take me for Jeep rides while Mom was at work. One afternoon we even chased a tornado. Mom wasn't happy. They also had a '69 Camaro, that mom drove. In my child's mind, we had the coolest cars ever... Then my brother was born. I rode between the seats, when we drove to trade both rides in for a family friendly Caprice. The good times were over, in more ways than one. I did get my '63 wagon from a farm auction, for $500.00. I drove it a bunch, but it wasn't terribly reliable. I was constantly working on it, so I purchased something newer for everyday use. The wagon went into storage for 15 years.

When I turned 18, I started building demo derby cars. I loved going when I was a kid in the seventies, so when I turned 18, and didn't need anyone's signature, I put together my first car. I had set cars up prior to that for my uncle, but by then he had lost his nerve....or figured out that it didn't feel all that good the next day. I started out running a '70 Impala, and did alright. Then my Great uncle had a '79 Caprice that I was more than happy to dispatch. I ended up running it for a couple of season, and actually made a little money. . After a while, I took a job with Caterpillar in Minnesota. Little did I know that it was a hot bed for demo derbies. I bought a house, and built a nice shop, and before long, I had several sources for cheap land yachts, so the inventory was extensive. There was pallet racking as high as the cieling full of parts. When I took my current position down here, there were car haulers and pick-up trucks wrapped around the block to purchase stuff. It was a sad day, but after 10 years, it was time to get out, and do something a bit less destructive.